You need to get out more.
I'll grant that most SETs I've heard whomp up the bass a bit and often sound blurry when the sound gets big and complex, but the "warm and tubey" thing escapes me.Funny thing is that Gordon Holt used to describe tube sound exactly the opposite way, bright, vivid, and forward. Maybe there's lots of imagination figments wandering around.
sampleaccurate,
I am. The lowest and the most ear-friendly distortion is given by a simple single-ended amplifier, one signal route, one phase, no circulation, no switching, no polluting (patented) tricks and gimmicks. It was invented hundred years ago.
Frankly, I`m not curious, class D has no place in audio.
sliding bias and super A were things that were done years ago by the Japanese. Nothing new there. Any other performance improvements that justifies the high price tag ??
Overdrive the hell out of it and throw in a ton of odd order and inharmonic distortion up high. That out to do it.
Yes, in my previous posts I was ignoring >95% of music these days. It all seems to go thru a P.A. of some kind. I hate it. And I used to be a front of house sound engineer! Always felt like I was part of the problem, and that was no fun. Neither was most of the music. Getting the chance to mix a jazz or Latin band was heaven to me, something I could actually make sound great.
It's hard to go hear live music that isn't amplified. Even in the smallest venues. Makes me sad.
And once your done listening to those two albums
LOL!
But it's not as bad as all that. There are a lot of good recordings out there. And plenty of recordings where the great music makes you forget about the technical side.Sure. Lower damping. That's why I use SS for bass. But tubes do work well on very highly damped (low Qts) woofers. They need some extra "whomp."
That's certainly been my experience. Especially thru the mids and highs. The figments and clichés may be getting in the way of real listening.
New technology and high-end?
The most high-end-customers don't accept integrated circuits in hardware, many don't even accept semiconductors.
And you want to sell new technology to such people?
Hi der Papst,
The result of years of misinformation and inept designers have left the upper end of the audio market with a large percentage of orphaned, sub-standard audio equipment. I say this in all seriousness. Some of the companies we would classify as mass market companies actually produce some of the better equipment out there. They only need a little work here and there to get great sound quality. The new upper Marantz for example. Older Denon CD players, or their cartridges. On and on. Companies like Sony re-enforce the stereotypes (sic) though.
Most "high end" customers are confused as to what the truth really is. The mass market (customers, people) moved away from "high end" because they aren't stupid. They've been lied to too many times over the years. Just look at the "white papers" and ad copy and you get the idea. The industry drove them away.
The result of years of misinformation and inept designers have left the upper end of the audio market with a large percentage of orphaned, sub-standard audio equipment. I say this in all seriousness. Some of the companies we would classify as mass market companies actually produce some of the better equipment out there. They only need a little work here and there to get great sound quality. The new upper Marantz for example. Older Denon CD players, or their cartridges. On and on. Companies like Sony re-enforce the stereotypes (sic) though.
A couple of Dutch guys who visited the CES and who heard this SILBATONE, WESTERN ELECTRIC, G.I.P.system. Cried when listening to the Bach by Stark that is how wonderful the system worked. These were speakers designed almost a century ago. Some of the smartest people in the world then worked at Western Electric. I'm assuming that because the lacked the "advanced" measuring devices we have nowadays they must have relied on emperical experience and by using their ears.
The Dutch CES tourist are now going to do everything in their power to assemble something similar. From their report I suspect they are in the "industry" and have seen and heard many a "high end" system.
In short they also commented that the current "high end" has not got a clue.
"Kortom; je begrijpt echt niet waar de "high-end" in vredesnaam mee bezig is als je dit hebt gehoord."
I wish I could have been in the room with them.
YouTube - Western Electric / G.I.P. system at CES2011
The Dutch CES tourist are now going to do everything in their power to assemble something similar. From their report I suspect they are in the "industry" and have seen and heard many a "high end" system.
In short they also commented that the current "high end" has not got a clue.
"Kortom; je begrijpt echt niet waar de "high-end" in vredesnaam mee bezig is als je dit hebt gehoord."
I wish I could have been in the room with them.
YouTube - Western Electric / G.I.P. system at CES2011
Hi John -
From the 1st post of the thread “In the future will major advances in audio reproduction come from the mass market sector whilst the high-end audio sector will continue to drag its feet and try to exploit and capitalize on it using gimmicks and lots of unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims ??
Your thoughts please ?”
Soooooo – people have responded with their thoughts as is their right – valid or otherwise.
“Has anyone here actually, ever, ever heard examples of high end audio. You know, expensive amps and loudspeakers? You sound to me like country boys who think their Daddy's pickup truck is the greatest vehicle in the world, and everything else is a joke.”
Many of us have – but for the most part this market (high end) is for those in the top percentiles of income and I would expect the ratio of those that actually get to hear it to be somewhat similar – that is about one or two percent.
I very much enjoy and appreciate the sonic and performance advances and advantages of truly “high end” audio, as do most of us that are here. Legitimate designers and producers of great gear (such as yourself) are a gift to us that seek audio bliss and well deserve every $$$$ they earn. OTOH there are some that manufacture audio gear that make great claims as to its performance or design – and charge prices that are not warranted by the efforts of their design, components, or technology.
Back to the original question, i.e. “gimmicks and lots of unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims ??”
Some are – some aren’t – buyer beware. So what else is new in this world??? Same old story to me.
From the 1st post of the thread “In the future will major advances in audio reproduction come from the mass market sector whilst the high-end audio sector will continue to drag its feet and try to exploit and capitalize on it using gimmicks and lots of unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims ??
Your thoughts please ?”
Soooooo – people have responded with their thoughts as is their right – valid or otherwise.
“Has anyone here actually, ever, ever heard examples of high end audio. You know, expensive amps and loudspeakers? You sound to me like country boys who think their Daddy's pickup truck is the greatest vehicle in the world, and everything else is a joke.”
Many of us have – but for the most part this market (high end) is for those in the top percentiles of income and I would expect the ratio of those that actually get to hear it to be somewhat similar – that is about one or two percent.
I very much enjoy and appreciate the sonic and performance advances and advantages of truly “high end” audio, as do most of us that are here. Legitimate designers and producers of great gear (such as yourself) are a gift to us that seek audio bliss and well deserve every $$$$ they earn. OTOH there are some that manufacture audio gear that make great claims as to its performance or design – and charge prices that are not warranted by the efforts of their design, components, or technology.
Back to the original question, i.e. “gimmicks and lots of unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims ??”
Some are – some aren’t – buyer beware. So what else is new in this world??? Same old story to me.
vinyl = warps + noise + groove distortion + wear and tear + deterioration
I'm sorry but that's not progress
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